What Sephora Knows About Women in Tech That Silicon Valley Doesn’t

More than 60% of the retailer’s technology workers are female

In a San Francisco office an hour’s drive from some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, Sephora has managed a corporate feat that would make the leaders of Google Inc., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. envious: a majority of the cosmetics retailer’s technology workers—62%—are women.

At a time when technology companies are struggling mightily to attract and retain women with computing and engineering skills, the beauty retailer’s tech staffing is notable not only for the numbers but also for the relatively simple way it...